Adam and his wife live in Paradise. Life is wonderful for them there. They live in harmony with God and also in complete peace with each other. They love God and one another. That is why they can be naked and know no sense of shame. But this glorious life is so cruelly disrupted. In Genesis 3 we read of the most disastrous event after creation.
In this verse it is noted that the serpent “was more crafty than any other beast of the field” (emphasis added). The reference to any other beast of the field
points to the wild animals; those animals that do not live close to humans’ homes and animals that are not under their care. The word crafty
is used here in contrast to senseless
and daft.
As an animal, the serpent exceeded the other animals in terms of its intellectual abilities.
It is this very same animal that is used and allows itself to be used to address the woman. And it is a real snake. The person who makes use of this snake is the devil. In Revelation 12:9 we read it this way: And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
The devil now starts to address the woman through the serpent. He speaks to her. He uses the plural as he addresses the woman, which shows that he knows that the woman is not living all by herself in the Garden of Eden. He evokes a certain thought through the question he asks—the idea that the Lord is in fact some tyrant. You are not allowed to eat from any tree in the garden?
These are the first words on earth that present a false image of God. These are the first words on earth by which God is spoken of in a wrongful way. It is the reason that the Lord Jesus later says to the Jews, You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies
(John 8:44). The devil knew very well that Adam and his wife were allowed to eat from all trees except the one.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”